About the ‘Caring Hands Initiative’ by ICICI Lombard

As a part of the companies CSR Activity, ICICI Lombard has started the ‘Caring Hands Initiative’. So, what is this initiative all about? And how does it benefit society?

Caring Hands Campaign is an initiative launched by ICICI Lombard that aims at providing preventive healthcare services to underprivileged children. The uniqueness is that the company engages their own employees as volunteers in this project and they happily do their bit for this remarkable service. The initiative has been launched in 2011 and since then it has been a catalyst in affecting the lives of 1, 76,000 children in more than 300 schools across the country!

For this initiative, equipment and ophthalmologists are arranged by the employees and they successfully conduct eye check-up camps every year one day in December, which is now earmarked as the Caring Hands Day at ICICI Lombard. The most encouraging and rewarding aspect of this initiative is that the employees whole-heartedly participate in the activity for the underprivileged children. Approximately 50 percent of employees volunteer for this activity every year which is an overwhelming response and, the support indeed is remarkable.

My Experience:

I recently visited two schools in Worli which were run by the government for the financially weaker sections of the society to witness the CSR initiative by ICICI Lombard. The Adarsh School and Jan Skishan Sansthan accepted ICICI Lombard’s request and the eye-vision camps were conducted for all the children from standard 5th – 8th. Seeing this amazing CSR activity, I was pleasantly surprised how dedicatedly the ICICI Lombard employees worked. A group of employees volunteered for this praiseworthy initiative. The children were given certificates and even gifts for participating in the initiative. They were encouraged to participate and take interest in the eye care program by making them aware about its importance.

The activity included conducting an eye check-up for children of 9-13 years in schools. It has been seen over the years that children from underprivileged sections are not been provided with proper eye care. Appropriate care was not taken for these kids and not even basic spectacles were available to them. During the activity, it was clear that many children had poor vision. A significant percentage of underprivileged children suffering from poor vision were given appropriate guidance. The volunteers who conducted the camps identified several cases of poor vision caused due to delayed diagnosis and parental ignorance and provided these children with corrective lenses.

Caring Hands has grown tremendously over the years. From 11,000 children in the first year, i.e., 2011, the number of children touched through the programme grew to 36,217 in FY2018. The eye spectacles have been recommended to 5582 kids across 105 locations at 288 camps. ICICI Lombard has screened over 2, 00,000 underprivileged children and distributed 25,000 spectacles to these kids so far.

This makes me immensely proud to share about this unique initiative with all you readers. I am glad to witness the betterment of the children myself. Having correct lenses and improved vision at the right age is essential. ICICI Lombard is doing a great job for underprivileged children with this activity. Mostly, eye care is something which is neglected until it is too late. However, proper care and treatment are vital else there can be tremendous hazardous effects.

#CaringHands is an initiative which is a need of the hour for these children who are the future of our country. I completely support and encourage Caring Hands by ICICI Lombard for helping young minds to have a clear vision. This is a wonderful step towards growth and development for the children.